Red, black, yellow; perianth-segments c. 3 times as long as wide, elliptical to elliptic oblong, acuminate

Fruits / pods:

Loculicidal capsules

Flowering Period:

February, March, April

Habitat:

Mediterranean maquis and forest, Batha, Phrygana

Distribution:

Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands

Chorotype, טיפוס התפוצה:

Med - Irano-Turanian

Summer shedding:

Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name:
Tulipa, from the Persian word "thuliban" or "dulbend", meaning "a turban". This evolved into the Turkish "dulbend" and "tulbend, Latin "tulipa" and English "tulip".
agenensis, from Agen, town in south-western France, described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1804 and named Tulipa agenensis, "the tulip of Agen".
oculis-solis, oculus, eye; solis, sun; eye of the sun.
sharonensis, refers to the Sharon Plain, a coastal plain in Israel.

The standard author abbreviation St-Amans is used to indicate Jean Florimond Boudon de Saint-Amans (1748 - 1831, a French naturalist.

The standard author abbreviation Dinsmore is used to indicate John Edward Dinsmore (1862 - 1951), who moved from Maine to Jerusalem in the 1890's to join a Protestant commune called The American Colony.
Soon after de Condolle named this tulip and still in 1804, Jean Saint-Amans named the same plant Tulipa oculis-solis. Tulipa agenensis was published first and takes priority.

Tulipa agenensis is native to the eastern Mediterranean. According to Flora Palaestina, it is found in forests and scrub along the coastal plain from Syria to Israel and in Cyprus. It was most likely introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century.
Characteristic of Tulipa agenensis is the outer tepals of the flower that are significantly longer and more pointed than the uinner tepals. The outer tepals can be 4 to 9 cm long, and 2 to 3 cm wide, but the inner tepals only reach 3 to 7 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. All are scarlet with a pointed, yellow-margined, black basal blotch that covers one-third to one-half of each petal. The outside of the flower is a lighter red or yellowish, particularly at the base. The ovary is narrowed below the stigma. The leaves are lanceolate and up to 25 cm long and 2.5 to 4 cm wide. Tha whole plant grows up to 40 cm tall.

Tulipa agenensis subsp. sharonensis is described in Flora Palaestina as a smaller version of Tulipa agenensis, usually growing 20 to 25 cm tall and with the leaf only 1 to 2 cm wide. the flower is also slightly smaller than that of Tulipa agenensis. It was originally described as a distinct species, Tulipa sharonensis, by John Dinsmore in 1934. It is restricted to sandy soils and hills along the coastal plain of the eastern Mediterranean.
Tulipa agenensis subsp. agenensis ⇒ Cinfined to Terra Rossa on hard limestone and dolomite.
Tulipa agenensis subsp. sharonensis (Dinsmore) Feinbrun ⇒ Only on sandy soils - sandy loam (Hamra), and calcareous sandstone (Kurkar). The tepals have yellowish tint at their abaxial (lower) face.

Tulips were introduced in Western Europe and the Netherlands in the 17th century by Carolus Clusius, a famous biologist from Vienna. In the 1590's he became the director of the Hortus Botanicus, the oldest botanical garden of Europe, in Leiden, the Netherlands. He was hired by the University of Leiden to research medicinal plants and, while doing so, he received some bulbs from his friend, Ogier de Busbecq, the Ambassador to Constantinople. He had seen the tulip growing in the palace gardens and sent a few to Clusius for his garden in Leiden.
It soon gained major popularity as a trading product, especially in Holland. The interest in the flower was huge and bulbs sold for unbelievably high prices. Botanists began to hybridize the flower. Hybrids and mutations of the flower were seen as rarities and a sign of high status.
In the months of late 1636 to early 1637, there was a complete "Tulipmania" in the Netherlands. The bulbs were usually sold by weight while they were still in the ground. This trade in un-sprouted flowers came to be called "wind trade".
The traders made huge amounts of money every month. People started selling their businesses, family homes, farm animals, furnishing and dowries to participate.
The government could not do anything to stop "Tulipmania"; the trade was all about access and demand. Finally, the tulip did not appear to quite so rare as to justify such high prices. Over-supply led to lower prices and dealers went bankrupt while many people lost their savings because of the trade. This "Tulip Crash" made the government introduce special trading restrictions on the flower. It is said that the tulip became so popular because of its bright colours, dramatic flames and frilly petals. To have tulips in one's home was a way to impress and, when the wealth spread down the social ladder, so did the urge for tulips.

The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618–19.
The writers of The Canons of Dort organized their arguments in five points, each corresponding to the five points set out in the Remonstrance.
These five points have come to be known as The Five Points of Calvinism, or by the acronym T.U.L.I.P.
These five points are:
T stands for “total depravity:” We are all sinners all the way through (Gen. 6:5; Rom. 3:23).
U stands for “unconditional election:” God chose to save me for reasons known only to him (Eph. 1:4-5).
L stands for “limited atonement:” Christ got what he paid for when he died for his people, and his people alone (John 10:14-15).
I stands for “irresistible grace:” When the Spirit changes my heart, I will and I must come to God in faith (John 6:44-45). And, finally,
P stands for the “perseverance of the saints:” My faithful God will see me safely to my eternal home (Rom. 8:28, 30).

Alexandre Dumas, père (1802 – 1870), told the story in his historical novel The Black Tulip: The city of Haarlem in The Netherlands has set a prize of 100,000 guilders to the person who can grow a black tulip, sparking competition between the country's best gardeners to win the money, honour and fame. The young and bourgeois Cornelius van Baerle has almost succeeded, but is suddenly thrown into the Loevestein prison. There he meets the prison guard's beautiful daughter Rosa, who will be his comfort and help, and at last his rescuer.

The Bible does not mention tulips specifically. However, biblical scholars now tell that the phrase “lilies of the field” refers to many different kinds of flowers, including the tulip.

Bible resources:

Song of Songs 2:1–2
The shepherd lover sings to his bride: “I am the rose of Sharon (most probably the Sharon tulip - Tulipa agenensis subsp. sharonensis), and the lily of the valleys (probably Narcissus tazetta). As the lily among thorns (Lilium candidum), so is my love among the daughters.”

Apocrypha: Sirach Chapter 50:8
And as the flower of roses in the spring of the year, as lilies by the rivers of waters, and as the branches of the frankincense tree in the time of summer: